Zain, the pioneer in telecommunications across the Middle East and Africa announces the appointment of Duncan Howard as Chief Commercial Officer of Zain Group, replacing Albert Fernandes. Under this role, Mr Howard will oversee and enhance all commercial, marketing, branding and advertising areas across Zain’s regional footprint.

Mr Howard has been with Zain Group since September 2013 managing Group Operations during which time he has successfully developed and led the introduction of Zain Group’s new operating model, bringing about an increased focus on Commercial and Operational performance. He has also laid the foundations for the establishment of Group Enterprise initiatives that will be rolled out across operations.

Mr Howard came to Zain with 20 years’ experience in Mobile, Television and Fixed Telecoms across the Middle East, Europe and North America. He has strong Commercial and Operational expertise that have included key roles as Chief Commercial Officer for a Quad-Play provider offering mobile, fixed, data and both Broadcast and IPTV services. He also held positions as Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Business Officer and Director of Customer Care and Retail for Vodafone in Egypt.

Commenting on the appointment, Zain Group CEO Scott Gegenheimer said, “Having worked closely with Duncan over the last nine months, he has proven himself as a versatile executive exceling in his roles and responsibilities to date. I am confident he will rise up to the challenges that lie ahead and take Zain’s commercial activities to the next level.”

Mr Howard holds a MBA from the Open University, UK and attained an BA (Hons) System Analysis from the University of West of England.